Ideal Childhood

"The Logical Song" by Supertramp

When I was young
It seemed that life was so wonderful
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical
And all the birds in the trees
Well they´d be singing so happily
Oh joyfully, oh playfully watching me
But then they sent me away
To teach me how to be sensible
Logical, oh responsible ,practical
And they showed me a world
Where i could be so dependable
Oh clinical, oh intellectual, cynical

There are times when all the world´s asleep
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man
Won´t you please, please tell me what we´ve learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who i am

Now watch what you say
Or they´ll be calling you a radical
A liberal, oh fanatical, criminal
Oh won´t you sign up your name
We´d like to feel you´re
Acceptable, respectable, oh presentable, a vegetable!

At night when all the world´s asleep
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man
Won´t you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who i am, who i am ,who i am.

I don't think life could of been better than it was the first nine years of my life. I was Daddys shadow. He called me Little Billy. He took me hunting and camping with him and sometimes to work.

I recall waking before daylight and Mom dressing me in layer after layer of clothes and packing us a thermos of coffee before we headed out to Grapevine Lake.(I started drinking coffee at two) I live at Grapevine Lake now, but it is a different world now than it was then. We just walked around with guns and bows and arrows. Daddy let me carry a small 22 rifle, but I never shot anything. We would sit up in a duck blind in the freezing cold for hours, being very quiet except for the sound of Dads duck calls. I got in trouble more than once for playing with them. Sometimes we went squirrel hunting and brought squirrels home and Mom made dumplings...yuck. I could never eat that now, but then it was the reason we wanted them. I would pretty much eat anything Daddy would eat and he ate some strange foods. I guess he had to when he was growing up. I drew the line at pigs feet though. Yuck.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good frogs legs were. Daddy would go frog gigging with his friends late at night. He would bring bullfrogs home alive then kill them. Once a big live snake came out when he cut one open. I also remember liking rabbit. Mom would fry it like chicken and it tasted like chicken, but with more white meat.

Sometimes Daddy and I would throw a blanket down in the back yard at night and he would teach me the constellations. It was much darker outside then, before DFW Airport, you could see five times as many stars as you see now.

Mom never worked then and she kept things nice at home. She had friends in the neighborhood with kids our age and they had coffee at one house or another every day. They would put on some Ray Charles or Bobby Darin and dance sometimes. Mama was so pretty and fun. She always made things extra nice, especially birthdays and holidays, but often would treat us to a Special day for no reason. She always loved to have fun and still does. Mom loves the State Fair of Texas. I was going to add her picture in 1950 here, but I am having trouble getting anymore pictures uploaded. I will try again later.

On weekends Mom and Dad would have family and friends over for BBQ's or a fish fry and Dad would always make homemade ice cream. There was least six cousins or company kids over. We played Swinging Statue, Roll Over Red Rover, Mother May I.

There were a lot of advertising lights. Everytime a store had a grand opening, they would rent them. You know those big spot lights that criss cross in the sky. We played like they were giant ant antennas, like in the movie "Them" and played a game where you had to hit the ground flat when they went over. It was good times. Much squealing and panic.

Sister and I shared a room and liked to scare each other. I would get a flashlight and bring my hand down slowly over it and it made a giant hand on the ceiling, she would convince me there was a man looking in the window. I feel sorry for sister now in retrospect. I wet the bed till I was six years old. I think I was an irritating child, always wanting to know everything and talking all the time. I know my Granny Williams (Mom's side) said so more than once. She had to take Valiums, called them her "nerve" pills. She was always offering them to Mom.

I think I was almost six when we quit going to church. It was around then that we started hearing a new sound coming from the living room after we went to bed. I remember lying in bed wondering what was making that poppsshhh sound. I was a sneaky devil and snuck down the hall and peeked and it turned out to be Mom opening cans of Schitz Beer. I had never known them to ever drink. They probably didn't even like the taste back then. It was preached against much in church, but many things that were a sin in the spring were fine to do in the summer. It was a bit confusing for me. I sure liked it though.

My hands say I have rattled enough for today.